Description

The Flying Dutchman is a 1,600 foot couloir that climbs from the west end of Chasm Lake to the north edge of the Loft. To approach the climb, hike around the north side of Chasm Lake. When this route is in condition, it offers quality steep snow climbing punctuated by a short, 55 degree water ice crux.

Eds. note the consensus rating is not accurate due to the constraints of mixed rock, ice, and mixed climbing ratings. Sorry!

Protection

Most of this route is on steep snow. Pickets can be used and rock protection can be found along the west edge of the couloir. Two ice screws protect the crux ice.

Climbed this 6/1/03. Fun snow climbing! The crux is mostly melted out and requires a few mixed moves. The rock is rotten here, but there is some good rock pro to be had. From the Loft, we summited Meeker and descended in a raging blizzard!

Climbed this route on 6/8. Conditions were very good to great. Good neve' owing to the recent cold spell (thanks for the kicked steps John, George, et al!) and crampons were used/needed. More ice than in George's crux photo below. Right side was fatter but still not well-bonded to the rock. Left side was good mixed climbing (M3-ish) with good tool sticks on right. Ice was thick enough in spots for shortie screws.

Climbed Flying Dutchman on 9.14.03. Really not in condition. Thought it might be a little better following the inclement weather. Had to scramble a ways to get on the snow which was really solid; however, screws bottomed out quickly. Lots of exposed rock and gravel. Lots of frozen kitty litter. Very loose. Crux ice was only a few inches thick and melting. Long day but the weather was perfect.

Climbed this 6/7/08. It was not long after a spring storm, so we kicked steps up this to the Loft, got a break on the Clark's Arrow traverse, and then kicked steps to the top. The ice at the crux took one 17cm screw, but there are plenty of placements in the rock to the left of the ice. The cracks are mostly parallel, so cams are a good call. It's a fun snow climb and combined with Clark's Arrow and a descent of the Cables route, a great traverse of Long's.

Just got back from doing an ascent on the Dutchman and descent down the Loft. Not a whole lot of ice right now, guys. (I had a total of two swings into actual ice.) The snow was super hard packed in places though, allowing you to cruise for most of the way. Having one ax and one tool (or a set of alpine tools for easier plunging) would have been ideal at this time.

Expect some dry tooling/awkward mantling through the crux in a no fall zone. We didn't break out the ropes once; however, it was nice to have the rope and pro just in case a rappel was needed.

I'm not sure what this latest storm is going to bring, but yesterday snowshoes were not necessary for the approach. There's a fair amount of slick ice on the main trail, so trekking poles wouldn't be a bad idea.

Note: if you are descending the Loft, be sure to find the easier class III route down. We got nailed by a nasty storm with 50mph+ gusts in near whiteout conditions and ended up on a super sketch, 5th class traverse along a snowy cliff face just below our intended exit route - looked like it would have been an amazing summer scramble though!

Climbed The Flying Dutchman on 3/14. Snow was decent for the most part. When almost at the ice, the snow got steeper and we were punching through past our knees. The ice took 13 and 17cm screws. The Loft descent was tricky but doable.